Challenges of interculturality in pre-service physical education teachers training

Abstract

Migration is a permanent phenomenon in the human species, which in recent years, has intensified as a result of demographic, economic and political changes, triggering social challenges in different areas, one of them being education. In a society, where people with different cultural references converge, the reflection turns to how teachers are prepared to attend and coexist in the classroom with this cultural diversity. To examine the understanding that faculty members, who prepare future Physical Education teachers, have about interculturality, a descriptive/interpretative study was designed to inquire about how they understand interculturality and its determinants when training future teachers. A semi-structured interview was conducted to eight faculty members from a university in the south-central part of Chile, which has been training Physical Education teachers for more than 50 years. It is possible to identify that the initial teacher training process must consider individual and relational intercultural competences, where the other is recognized in an interaction between cultures. This requires paradigmatic renewal, recognition and appreciation of diversity under certain conditions of implementation. The installation of these processes requires a cultural adaptation, extending beyond folkloric and culinary manifestations. Determinants are recognized along social, normative, formative and paradigmatic lines. In conclusion, the Physical Education faculty recognizes the potential of interculturality and the need to incorporate it into training. However, they are not prepared for its implementation.